The Antidote
”Why should money make evil comprehensible to anyone? But it does precisely this. Greed, violence, cruelty-money can explain them. Money can make the most heinous act seem like a sane one. A business decision. A necessary calculation. Evil’s genius is to costume itself as sense.”-Karen Russell, The AntidoteMoney is a story, and a long time…
Punch-Drunk Love
Walter: How’s business? Barry: Business is very food, thanks. Elizabeth: What’s very food? Barry: What? Elizabeth: You just said very food. Barry: Did I say that? Walter: Yeah. Barry: That was weird. I meant good. Walter: Maybe you said that because you’re hungry… Every business starts selling when people look for it because it’s essential…
The Queen’s Gambit
“The strongest person is the person who isn’t scared to be alone.”-Walter Tevis, The Queen’s GambitThat’s what makes you independent.Being Independent is hard, but it’s worth it because you know yourself well enough that your only responsibility is to become strong.But sometimes you need a partner who is aligned with your goals, dreams, and wants…
The Batman
The Riddler: If you are justice, please do not lie / What is the price for your blind eye.There is no more real justice right now.The Reality is often so distorted that people can’t see what is really happening.It’s a game every day.There is always a game plan.This film (not comparing to The Dark Knight…
Flashlight
”Love is, perhaps, the sensation of expertise that erupts out of nowhere, and as time goes on accumulates enough soil at its feet to be standing on something.” -Susan Choi, Flashlight You feel love when you experience it, not because it’s told to you, but because it’s acted upon by the person giving it to…
Stand by Me
Chris: You could be a real writer someday, Gordie.Gordie: [Angry] Fuck writing! I don’t want to be a writer. It’s stupid. It’s a stupid waste of time.Not everyone is an engineer but people have a simple and sustainable livelihood that makes them content in life.Some people want more and more.When you find your passion in…
The Color of Money
”A pool hustler had to do what he claimed to be able to do. The risks he took were not underwritten. His skill on the arena of green cloth – cloth that itself was the color of money – could never be only pretense.” -Walter Tevis, The Color of Money (Eddie Felson, #2) Sports are…
Gladiator
Maximus: Are you in danger of becoming a good man, Proximo? Proximo: Ha!Being a good man might be the hardest thing to do because it has no prize.But when you talk about being a good man, regardless of whether there is a prize or not, then that’s a virtue.The Roman Empire built on the idea…
People We Meet on Vacation
“I’m on vacation. Vacations always end. It’s the very fact that it’s finite that makes traveling special. You could move to any one of those destinations you loved in small doses, and it wouldn’t be the spellbinding, life-altering seven days you spend there as a guest, letting a place into your heart fully, letting it…
Man on the Run
Paul: “The Beatles have been my whole life, really. When we split up, I thought, I’ll never write another note of music.” The Beatles are the Beatles, and they consist of four Beatles who are essential to the group, regardless of their role. This Documentary about Paul McCartney, following the Beatles’ split, inspires him to…
Sleeping Children
”We treat our mothers like libraries we can visit anytime, forgetting that libraries close, books go missing, and one day, we’ll stand before a locked door with questions only she could answer.”-Anthony Passeron, Sleeping ChildrenThere are many lessons to be learned when the mother speaks.It will speak wisdom.It will also speak about how to teach…
The Great Train Robbery
”Should the police actually succeed in eliminating all crime, they will simultaneously succeed in eliminating themselves as a necessary adjunct to society, and no organized force or power will ever eliminate itself willingly.-Michael Crichton, The Great Train RobberyThe goal is always to serve and protect.We can observe in films the various tactics that unlawful groups…
The Hustler
“You drop that load too when you find yourself an excuse. Then, afterward, all you got to do is learn to feel sorry for yourself—and lots of people learn to get their kicks that way. It’s one of the best indoor sports, feeling sorry.” Bert’s face broke into an active grin. “A sport enjoyed by…
The Andromeda Strain
”The rock, for its part, is not even aware of our existence because we are alive for only a brief instant of its lifespan. To it, we are like flashes in the dark.” -Michael Crichton, The Andromeda Strain (Andromeda, #1) For millions of years, the Earth formed because the sun provided energy to it and…
Melophobia
You can drive all nightLookin’ for the answers in the pourin’ rainYou wanna find peace of mindLookin’ for the answer-Cigarette Daydreams by Cage the ElephantA song has lyrics.A Melody has tunes.For me, this album might be the best by the band Cage the Elephant.Perhaps it’s not as popular now as a kind of pop song,…
Pirate Latitudes
”But one never really understood life in the New World until confronted with the actual rude experience.”-Michael Crichton, Pirate LatitudesThe journey you seek to make is adventurous enough to have excitement and terror.Just like The Odyssey by Homer.It always depends on the captain on what and why he gives an order.
The Romantic
For just the chance to win your heartYou could set the bar beyond the starsI’ll do anything, anything you ask me toSay you want the moonWatch me learn to flyAin’t no mountain you could point toI wouldn’t climb-Risk It AllSong by Bruno MarsThis album is perhaps the best by Bruno Mars.Track by Track to his…
I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen
”You finish listening to a song of Leonard’s and you know he’s said everything he had to say, he didn’t let the song go till he was done with it.” -Sylvie Simmons, I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen Music is the only kind of thing that you can’t force someone to consume, even…
State of Fear
”Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice.”-Michael Crichton, State of FearWhat are the first things to look at when there is something called judgment?Maybe Evidence.However, discussing evidence doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the proof that the judge or prosecutor will use to make a judgment.This is why…
Spies of No Country
”You need the instinct of a person who knows how to fit in, to remove the sharp edges and curve into the society.” But when he wasn’t a spy yet, just a proud youth perceptive enough to notice condescension, it hurt to round his edges.”-Matti Friedman, Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth…
Heat
Vincent Hanna: My life’s a disaster zone. I got a stepdaughter so fucked up because her real father’s this large-type asshole. I got a wife, we’re passing each other on the down-slope of a marriage – my third – because I spend all my time chasing guys like you around the block. That’s my life.Neil…
The City Changes Its Face
”For an age, for an hour, for a minute or two I couldn’t hear beyond the muffle and was trying so hard to. Staring right into it. Sick with the wait.”-Eimear McBride, The City Changes Its FaceTime will always pass by.The reality is that time won’t stop, even if you want it to stop so…
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
Tommy Shelby: All of us dead, except the one who wants to be dead.Death may be the greatest challenge a human being can face.But death is only part of the life that you live.It means that before that happens, you live the life that you deserve.This film tells the story of one man who faces…
The Ascent of Money
”Money is a matter of belief, even faith: belief in the person paying us; belief in the person issuing the money he uses or the institution that honours his cheques or transfers. Money is not metal. It is trust inscribed. And it does not seem to matter much where it is inscribed: on silver, on…
In Praise of Shadows and Other Essays
”We find beauty not in the thing itself but in the patterns of shadows, the light and the darkness, that one thing against another creates.”-Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows and Other EssaysThere is always light and dark.Good and evil.Without the other, life might be perfect.It might be a utopian society.However, there is imperfection, and…
The Theory of Everything
Stephen Hawking: There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.Different people have various responsibilities in life.This life is a privilege that allows you to create and do the things you…
Talk of the Devil
“I don’t want yachts, race-horses or a Rolls-Royce. I want my family and my friends and good health… and somehow to give pleasure, whether innocent or illicit, to people in their millions. Well, you can’t ask for more.”-Ian Fleming, Talk of the Devil: The Collected Writings of Ian FlemingMoney is a story that a person…
Past Lives
Hae Sung: What if this is a past life as well, and we are already something else to each other in our next life? Who do you think we are then?The past is past, and those past things may serve as a lesson to help us move forward in life.There is something called “Narrative, Story”…
The Silver Book
“Nonfiction can’t keep up with how strange and fast-moving reality has become. I had to switch to fiction because it allows me to be swift and direct like an arrow.”–Olivia Laing https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/16768/olivia-laing-the-silver-book-interview-pier-paolo-pasolini-felliniThat’s maybe the difference between fiction and nonfiction.Both provide an in-depth experience, not just a one-sided story, but something beyond that.Providing something, whether it…
It’s Never Over: Jeff Buckley
Michael Tighe: It’s a huge cliché that, you know, bands are like families. But they are.It’s more to say that teamwork makes the best work.However, different people in the band had varying responsibilities.This documentary about Jeff Buckley provides a more in-depth account of his life and music.
Masters of the Air
”A human being has to look out for other human beings or else there’s no civilization.”-Donald L. Miller, Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi GermanyCooperation may be the key to sustaining peace and order.Without peace and order, chaos will ensue.Following is a must but situations are more…
American Hustle
Sydney Prosser: You’re nothing to me until you’re everything.We are born in this world with nothing.Nothing means that there are no material things you carry, especially when you are an innocent baby.Growing up is a crucial thing because there is something new every day.New means that we have to gather things or gain experience.This film…
A Wing and a Prayer
”Small wonder that navigators didn’t get promoted. They were just duplicates of what gunners could do.” -Harry H. Crosby, A Wing and a Prayer: The “Bloody 100th” Bomb Group of the US Eighth Air Force in Action Over Europe in World War II Ordinary people especially those who are new in their job (whatever responsibility…
Ocean’s Eleven
Danny: [referring to her relationship with Terry] Does he make you laugh? Tess: [sincerely] He doesn’t make me cry. Relationships are always complicated, but they have elements of agreement and disagreement. The point might be choices. In terms of relationships, always follow your heart. Why? Because that’s the choice you will never regret that may…
The House of Rothschild
“All rapidly accumulated wealth is either the result of luck or discovery, or the result of a legalised theft.” -Niall Ferguson, The House of Rothschild: Volume 1: Money’s Prophets: 1798-1848 Wealth has different kinds of definitions. It might be due to the hard work of the person or a clever approach to creating something worthwhile,…
Migrations
”It isn’t fair to be the kind of creature who is able to love but unable to stay.” -Charlotte McConaghy, Migrations Human beings at their best have feelings or emotions whether it is positive or negative. Positivity is a must but reality hurts, which brings negativity. The only thing that matters is how we approach…
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Joel: [narration as Clementine acknowledges him by raising her coffee mug] Why do I fall in love with every woman I see who shows me the least bit of attention? For me, I think you only love the one person who you believe will make you, and who has a developing character that has the…
A Different Person
”Freedom to be oneself is all very well; the greater freedom is not to be oneself.” -James Merrill, A Different Person: A Memoir Freedom is a topic that is discussed a lot nowadays. But following the rules and guidance is essential enough to make something or give an order not chaos. You can do whatever…
Before Sunrise
Street Poet: Daydream delusion, limousine eyelash / Oh baby with your pretty face / Drop a tear in my wineglass / Look at those big eyes / See what you mean to me / Sweet-cakes and milkshakes / I’m a delusion angel / I’m a fantasy parade / I want you to know what I…
3 Shades of Blue
”Knowledge is freedom and ignorance is slavery.” -James Kaplan, 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool Knowledge, to me, is about thinking what you can think of. Knowing what you can know about. There is a difference between gaining and applying. Gaining means knowing that it…
The Undoing Project
”The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours.” -Michael Lewis, The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds There is always a need to experiment. Experimenting means to gain experience. An experience not to become perfect, even though there…
Now You See Me
J. Daniel Atlas: The closer you think you are, the less you’ll actually see.We live in a magical era of possibility that past generations could never have imagined.Sending messages in the blink of an eye.Sharing videos and photos openly with the public.Free music anywhere you want to listen to.This is a different kind of freedom,…
Once There Were Wolves
“The world he describes, empty of wild creatures and places, overrun instead by people and their agriculture, is a dying world.”-Charlotte McConaghy, Once There Were WolvesWhen you look back at the world of its origin or before the Cognitive Revolution, Agricultural Revolution, Scientific Revolution, Industrial Revolution, etc. It starts with a caveman.A caveman who hunts,…
Focus
Nicky: It’s about distraction. It’s about focus. The brain is slow and it can’t multitask. Tap him here, take from there.We live in a distracted world.What I mean by “distracted” is that there is too much information, and experts call it “Information overload.”Back in the days when there was no social media or internet the…
Wreck
”Life is a near-death experience. And death is a real-life one. You just want to wake up while you still can. While the world is turning and the owls are calling and gratitude is the very air you are still breathing, because, whatever happens next, that’s how lucky you are. You are still breathing.” -Catherine…
The Achilles Trap
“One of King Hussein’s skeptical advisers had warned him “to expect a half-baked presentation” at the C.I.A. The spy agency briefers would cloak their lack of knowledge about the internal situation in Iraq “through the use of elaborate graphs, charts, and presentational aids.” Even in these early days of PowerPoint’s hegemony over Washington, an overload…
GoodFellas
Henry Hill: [Narrating] As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.There is a saying that “No man is an island.”Every person belongs to a group, whether it is a tribe, community, team, or company.Those groups of people when they pull together will become a society.This film is a classic…
Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here
”Politics is a form of selective amnesia. The people who survive it are our only insurance against forgetting.”-Jonathan Blitzer, Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a CrisisWhat I understand about it is that problems, issues, and other conflicts will often be overlooked, and these issues will…
Wellness
”And the only thing she was certain of was this: that between ourselves and the world are a million stories, and if we don’t know which among them are true, we might as well try out those that are most humane, most generous, most beautiful, most loving.”-Nathan Hill, WellnessStories are experiences that shape us and…
Takedown
”Knowledge didn’t equal power, it was the proper application of knowledge that equaled power.” -Brad Thor, Takedown (Scot Harvath, #5) The education system makes us feel slave and become obedient people. This makes it feel useful for industrialists especially in the early days of the industrial revolution. But now the internet has revolutionized and democratized…
Aftersun
Sophie: I think it’s nice that we share the same sky.Calum: What you mean?Sophie: Well, like… Sometimes at playtime, I look up at the sky and if I can see the Sun then… I think that the fact that we can both see the Sun, so even though we’re not actually in the same place…
The Mirror & the Light
”This is what life does for you in the end; it arranges a fight you can’t win.”-Hilary Mantel, The Mirror & the Light (Thomas Cromwell, #3)Fairness might be the answer but it’s not an option.It means that there is always an advantage and a disadvantage.The alternative is always to be the kind of person who…
Blue Velvet
Frank Booth: Hey, you wanna go for a ride?Jeffrey Beaumont: No, thanks.Frank Booth: No, thanks? What does that mean?Jeffrey Beaumont: I don’t wanna go.Frank Booth: Go where?Jeffrey Beaumont: For a ride.Frank Booth: A ride! Now that’s a good idea!I always say that it always depends on the driver who makes the car.It means that it…
Path of the Assassin
”He had long ago learned to take his peaceful moments where he could find them. Who knew what tomorrow would bring?”-Brad Thor, Path of the Assassin (Scot Harvath, #2)Having a peaceful mind might feel boring, especially when you are at home with nowhere to go.But sometimes peace brings a mind free from worries and shame…
Ford v Ferrari
Carroll Shelby: [narration] There’s a point at 7,000 RPM… where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless. Just disappears. And all that’s left is a body moving through space and time. 7,000 RPM. That’s where you meet it. You feel it coming. It creeps up on you, close in your ear. Asks you a question. The…
Directorate S
“One view at the highest levels of the U.S. embassy in Kabul by summer’s end was that Karzai “was a very clever madman—just because he was insane doesn’t mean he was stupid.”-Steve Coll, Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America’s Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2016Being smart can sometimes be perceived as foolish by those…
1917
Colonel MacKenzie: I hoped today might be a good day. Hope is a dangerous thing. That’s it for now, then next week, Command will send a different message. Attack at dawn. There is only one way this war ends. Last man standing.There is always a beginning and an end.That’s called a finite game.And there is…
The Director
”Times are always strange. Art is always out of place. Always unnecessary when it’s made. And later, when you look back, it’s the only thing that mattered.”-Daniel Kehlmann, The DirectorThis is the question that you should ask about…”What are the things that you are made of and not just you create but it’s important enough…
Euphoria
“Perhaps all science is merely self-investigation.”-Lily King, EuphoriaOne thing we learn about science is that it’s applicable in many other ways.Being a scientist involves trial and error, as it’s about experimenting.Experimenting with things that give something or you saw something in a theoretical way.If failure is an option neither is success.You need to have a…
Dallas Buyers Club
Ron Woodroof: I like your style, doc. Different people have different kinds of style. A style is unique in its own way. A style might be a brand. There is a difference between Nike and Adidas and they are unique even in their logos but they are in the same industry selling shoes. Android and…
Band of Brothers
“We know how to win wars. We must learn now to win peace…”-Stephen E. Ambrose, Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s NestWars occur because there is likely a tension between the most powerful nations, which is often reflected in how their armed forces are challenged.Wars are not…
What We Can Know
”They were big and brave, superb scholars and scientists, musicians, actors and athletes, and they were idiots who were throwing it all away, even as their high culture lamented or roared in pain.”-Ian McEwan, What We Can KnowAnxiety kicks in when the future is uncertain.However, you don’t know what the future holds.This is why you…
Hacksaw Ridge
Desmond Doss: Maybe I am prideful… but I don’t know how I’m going to live with myself if I don’t stay true to what I believe… much less how you could live with me. I’d never be the man that I wanna be in your eyes.Having a conviction doesn’t mean you are detached from anyone,…
The Apostle
“There aren’t many honest men or women in Washington anymore. Politicians get where they are by the sheer force of their egos, not their convictions. And you know what? It’s our fault as voters. We don’t demand better candidates, so we end up getting what we deserve—on both sides of the aisle.” -Brad Thor, The…
Black Flags
”Bloodthirsty fanatics who regarded all Western inventions and practices as works of the devil, they saw themselves as divinely appointed to purify the region by slaughtering all who allied with foreigners or deviated from their narrow vision of Islam.”-Joby Warrick, Black Flags: The Rise of ISISDifferent people have different kinds of belief systems.That system influences…
The Dark Knight
The Chechen: [During a private sit down meeting with the gangsters] What do you propose? The Joker: It’s simple. We, uh, kill the Batman. [mobsters laugh] Salvatore Maroni: If it’s so simple, why haven’t you done it already? The Joker: If you’re good at something, never do it for free. Anarchists create confusion that leads…
The Pentagon’s Brain
“We still don’t have a clue about what’s going on in the human brain. We have theories; we just don’t know for sure. We can’t build an electrical circuit, digital or analogue or other, that mimics the biological system. We can’t emulate the behavior. One day in the future, we think we can.”-Annie Jacobsen, The…
Dunkirk
Blind Man: Well done, lads. Well done. Alex: All we did is survive. Blind Man: That’s enough. Every day there is breaking news. Breaking news of different kinds of stories in different kinds of places because there is no such thing as a single or one media. We live in a technology that is abundant…
Rise and Kill First
”Dagan had no love for the media. “I’ve reached the conclusion that it is an insatiable monster,” he would tell me later, “so there’s no point in maintaining a relationship with it.” -Ronen Bergman, Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations Media nowadays are essential because the news that they deliver…
Mission: Impossible, The Final Reckoning
Luther Stickell: Our lives are not defined by any one action. Our lives are the sum of our choices.If that’s what the quote in the movie can help us achieve, it can benefit the greater good, not just in the personal aspects of a single person’s life, but also as a collective.Problems have solutions, and…
Relentless Strike
“Many operations involved intercepting and seizing someone traveling in a moving vehicle, often with bodyguards. The task force would surreptitiously attach a tracking beacon to the target’s car. Delta was already experimenting with technologies that used an electromagnetic pulse to shut a car’s battery down remotely. The unit also used a catapult net system that…
The Tiger
“The one certainty in tiger tracks is: follow them long enough and you will eventually arrive at a tiger, unless the tiger arrives at you first.” -John Vaillant, The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival Tigers by definition: a domestic cat with a striped pattern. Wild animals are wild because that’s their nature.…
Private Empire
”Fortunately for Obiang, coup-prone African governments rolling in oil but lacking in arms and intelligence to defend their bounty had a discreet alternative to the Pentagon and the C.I.A. for defense support: Israel.”-Steve Coll, Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American PowerI don’t talk about wars when the point is all about the exchange of goods and…
Lone Survivor
”I will never quit. My nation expects me to be physically harder and mentally stronger than my enemies. If knocked down I will get back up, every time. I will draw on every remaining ounce of strength to protect my teammates and to accomplish our mission. I am never out of the fight.” -Marcus Luttrell,…
The Brutalist
László Tóth: Is there a better description of a cube than that of its construction?Every shape has its own beauty.Every angle has its own unique character that contributes to the overall design, making the building more interesting and, more importantly, has a solid foundation.Constructing a building or a website is a business.Amazon started as a…
Ghost Wars
”Terrorism is often confused or equated with . . . guerrilla warfare,” the terrorism theorist Bruce Hoffman once wrote. “ This is not surprising, since guerrillas often employ the same tactics (assassination, kidnapping, bombings of public gathering-places, hostage-taking, etc.) for the same purposes (to intimidate or coerce, thereby affecting behavior through the arousal of fear)…
A Clockwork Orange
Alex: It’s funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen.Colors are what may be the symbol of a kind of thing that guides us into something that gives it meaning.You saw someone whose skin color is different from yours, and that’s how you judge…
The Triple Agent
”It became a priority for the CIA to have this man brought to a place where they could meet him in person, where they could look him in the eye to see if he was telling the truth”.-Joby Warrick, The Triple Agent: The Al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIAYou can see a person’s emotion by…
Apocalypse Now
Kurtz: We train young men to drop fire on people, but their commanders won’t allow them to write “fuck” on their airplanes because it’s obscene!War is like hell because it’s a horror.Every soldier sent to the battlefield has a purpose, and that purpose serves to protect their nation.The mission is about security and defense.Nowadays, we…
The Pentagon Papers
“Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.”-Neil Sheehan, The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam WarThere is no such thing as Top Secret nowadays.The only thing that is a secret is maybe a code or a password of your account in a bank, social media accounts, email accounts,…
This Strange Eventful History
”A story is not a line; it is a richer thing, one that circles and eddies, rises and falls, repeats upon itself.”-Claire Messud, This Strange Eventful HistoryIf the story is a way, and there is maybe a straight line, a curved line, a gutsy line, and maybe there is a finish line.Even in a typical…
Marty Supreme
Dion Galanis: It’s an original ball for an original guy. It’s the Marty Supreme Ball, not the Marty Normal Ball.Being Original is hard especially when there is too much noise and buzz on what is trending and popular.Most people like to be conformist.Being conformist by definition, a person who behaves in accordance with prevailing standards…
Eurotrash
”It had become a valley of absurdities, my homeland.” -Christian Kracht, Eurotrash Each individual has a homeland. A homeland by definition is where you are born and grow up. It depends on the kind of person or the experiences that person has, which determines how they behave. Maybe the person felt different because of the…
Interstellar
Cooper: We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars. Now we just look down, and worry about our place in the dirt.The place that we live in right now might make you think that you live forever in that place.There is no place like planet Earth, and…
American Sniper
”The joke was that President Bush only declared war when Starbucks was hit. You can mess with the U.N. all you want, but when you start interfering with the right to get caffeinated, someone has to pay.”-Chris Kyle, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military HistoryThere is always a war…
You Are Here
“Time is a sensation that alters depending on where you are.”-David Nicholls, You Are HereTime is a precious thing that you have because we know that we only have a limited amount of time in this life.However, doing things that yield a lifetime’s work, which you can look back on perhaps 10 or 20 years…
Katabasis
”This was the key to flourishing in graduate school. You could do anything if you were delusional.”-R.F. Kuang, KatabasisIt’s not just in graduate school but anywhere.I think being delusional is not a bad thing, but it always depends on the context in which it fits.For example, being delusional might involve pursuing your dreams; it’s like…
M: Maxwell Knight, MI5’s Greatest Spymaster
“The best spies,” writes the first boy scout, “are unpaid men who are doing it for the love of the thing.”- Henry Hemming, M: Maxwell Knight, MI5’s Greatest SpymasterYou look for the value of the thing when it is lost.Being paid is important because it ensures the work is done and that the person receives…
Songs of Love and Hate
Four o’clock in the afternoon and I didn’t feel like doing very muchI said to myself, “Where are you golden boy, where is your famous golden touch?”-Dress Rehearsal Rag by Leonard CohenThis is one of the lyrical inspirations when Alex Turner, one of the main writers of the band Arctic Monkeys, wrote their LP titled…
Star Treatment
I just wanted to be one of The StrokesNow look at the mess you made me makeHitchhiking with a monogrammed suitcaseMiles away from any half-useful imaginary highwayI’m a big name in deep spaceAsk your mates but golden boy’s in bad shapeI found out the hard wayThat here ain’t no place for dolls like you and…
Love Forms
”I don’t know what made her do that – it was only afternoon – but maybe she was possessed by the same feeling of shame as I was, and the sense that a part of our lives was coming to an end.” -Claire Adam, Love Forms When I say that it always depends It doesn’t…
How to Build a Boat
”To some, the world is filled with threats. To others, opportunities.”-Elaine Feeney, How to Build a BoatThere is always another side to everything.Without it then the world will always be united maybe in one cause.But that’s not what’s gonna happen nowadays.Because what really happened is divisive, and some people may be debating even geopolitical standards.Threats…
Top Gun: Maverick
Adm. Solomon ‘Warlock’ Bates: Your instructor is one of the finest pilots this program has ever produced. His exploits are legendary. What he has to teach you may very well mean the difference between life and death. I give you Captain Pete Mitchell, call sign Maverick.War Films are action films that may be more than…
Enemies
“They might not love Big Brother, but they knew he was part of the family now.”-Tim Weiner, Enemies: A History of the FBIBig Brother might be likened to the concept described in George Orwell’s novel, 1984.I suggest you read that book because it’s a must-read, both politically and in a futuristic sense, to gain a…
The Pleasing Hour
“It is a subtle violence, the violence of absence.”-Lily King, The Pleasing HourIt’s the presence that gives something to fascinate, and it’s better in the long run rather than just making something happen or going with the flow.But when things don’t work out it might be because there is something that is what is called…
Moon Tiger
”The power of language. Preserving the ephemeral; giving form to dreams, permanence to sparks of sunlight.”-Penelope Lively, Moon TigerThere are different kinds of languages and dialects that a finger can’t count.The Use of language is about how we communicate something.When you use a certain type of language and the other is different, there may be…
Grace
”Daylight tricks you into thinking what you see is the truth, lets you go through life thinking you know everything. But the truth is we are sleepwalkers. We walk through the night that is chaos and dark and forever keeps its truth to itself.”-Paul Lynch, GraceIt’s the light that reveals everything.The Light is the opposite…
Legacy of Ashes
”Intelligence fails because it is human, no stronger than the power of one mind to understand another.”-Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIATo understand human beings is to understand human nature.Human beings are ingenious in many ways, which is why we invent things that are useful.We know what the useful things are.Useless…
Four Shots in the Night
“The past is here.”-Henry Hemming, Four Shots in the Night: A True Story of Spies, Murder, and Justice in Northern IrelandJose Rizal quotes it, saying, “Those who don’t look for the past will never go to their destination.”For me, the past is a lesson that you need not forget about but to make something count…
The Mission
”The CIA’s vision was further impaired by its failure to see through the eyes of millions of young people in the Arab street. The CIA did not understand that the demonstrations flowed from the interconnected ideas and hopes of protestors.”-Tim Weiner, The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century – The Revelatory History of Intelligence…
Nightcrawler
Detective Fronteiri: You filmed him dying. Lou Bloom: That’s my job, that’s what I do, I’d like to think if you’re seeing me you’re having the worst day of your life. Everyone has the capacity to not be censored or openly seen by the public powered by the Internet. Back when there was no such…
The Revolutionist
”Histories were being contested in ways that were disturbing for some, empowering for others. This was the time when Liberation and Revolution meant something very real and urgent.”-Jason Burke, The RevolutionistHistory repeats itself but there is a condition and that condition serves to make us more terrifying and frightening than ever before.We know what happened…
Materialist
Harry: You must know a lot about love.Lucy: I know about dating.Harry: What’s the difference?Lucy: Dating takes a lot of effort. A lot of trial and error. A ton of risk and pain. Love is easy.Harry: Is it? I find it to be the most difficult thing in the world.Lucy: That’s because we can’t help…
Earthly Possessions
”Possessions make me anxious. I gave up hope.”-Anne Tyler, Earthly PossessionsFor some people, possessions are a source of happiness and pleasure.Because maybe it’s the thing that they carry around.Or they invest sweat to get that thing.Possessions are not permanent maybe they come and they go.What is the experience of that service on how you make…
Asteroid City
Augie Steenbeck: I still don’t understand the play. Schubert Green: Doesn’t matter. Just keep telling the story. When you watch a play in a theater it’s a real act, and the actors who play their roles in that play are dedicated to what the authors or directors of that play want them to act. It…
Anxious People
”We don’t have a plan, we just do our best to get through the day, because there’ll be another one coming along tomorrow.”-Fredrik Backman, Anxious PeopleThe point is enjoyment.But that joy doesn’t last.What is last maybe, fulfillment.But how can you make that happen?Well, it always depends and WHY? HOW? And WHAT?Those three questions are what…
We Would Have Told Each Other Everything
“It doesn’t matter whether a story is invented, true, or only half-true.”-Judith Hermann, We Would Have Told Each Other EverythingStories are the foundation of what it might be like or a vision that something gives a better way to live or influence.Even when you go to bed and shut your eyes, your mind is running…
Universality
”In the cold light of 2021, Richard Spencer’s conduct begs the question: why does our society tolerate these greedy, pitiful men?”-Natasha Brown, UniversalityTolerating what is wrong is what gives rise to moral blindness.Moral blindness means that even if it is not a good or a bad thing that they do like corruption, they want to…
The Wager
“Empires preserve their power with the stories that they tell, but just as critical are the stories they don’t—the dark silences they impose, the pages they tear out.”-David Grann, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and MurderIt’s no surprise that we saw a rise of empires in democratic nations.Empires at its definition is to…
Blacktop Wasteland
”A mistake is a lesson, unless you make the same mistake twice.”-S.A. Cosby, Blacktop WastelandLearning from mistakes is essential.What is essential is to make those mistakes in a better way to improve and practice.The only thing that gives perfection is not to strive for perfection.What does that mean?It means that the only thing that matters…
John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs
”But they did not have the craftsman’s detachment from his work, because they instinctively believed in Tolstoy’s definition of the artistic calling: “to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling.”-Ian Leslie, John & Paul: A Love Story in SongsA band is a brotherhood in Art.A band sometimes has different roles that they…
All the Sinners Bleed
”We all choose to be skeptics when the truth is inconvenient.”-S.A. Cosby, All the Sinners BleedIt’s hard to accept the truth.But truth will set you free.It’s the way to have peace.But sometimes truth slaps and hurts.It’s best to be honest about ourselves.
Eddington
Man on Speaker: [voice] Again, history repeats itself. And, uh, I mean, let’s talk about 1956. Let’s talk about the number 56 for just one minute. In California, Jesuit-educated Gavin Newsom. And he said to California, as he became the first governor to lock down his state, he said, “56% of you will get Corona…
The Reformatory
”For the first time, she understood the liberation of having nothing left to lose.”-Tananarive Due, The ReformatoryWhat does having nothing left to lose to you?That’s a difficult question because if you have many things like material things, money, or any kind of possession, let’s say, that person died and of course, the family will inherit…
Killers of the Flower Moon
”History is a merciless judge. It lays bare our tragic blunders and foolish missteps and exposes our most intimate secrets, wielding the power of hindsight like an arrogant detective who seems to know the end of the mystery from the outset.” -David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon: Oil, Money, Murder and the Birth of…
Psycho-Cybernetics
”Happiness is a mental habit, a mental attitude, and if it is not learned and practiced in the present it is never experienced. It cannot be made contingent upon solving some external problem. When one problem is solved, another appears to take its place. Life is a series of problems. If you are to be…
Lone Wolf
”Scars are just a treasure map for pain you’ve buried too deep to remember.”-Jodi Picoult, Lone WolfThere is a film titled Scarface.The film is a cautionary tale about rags to riches, but also a dangerous view on how power and money can make you behave as if you don’t have to care about your life…
11/22/63
”When all else fails, give up and go to the library.”-Stephen King, 11/22/63No one steals a book when you put it in the road because there is a saying (by paraphrase) that the reader will never steal and a thief will never read.Failure will always take place, no matter what the condition or situation, even…
The Revenant
Hawk: Can you hear the wind, father? Remember what mother used to say about the wind? The wind cannot defeat the tree with strong roots.Every wind will speak about not because of its intensity but because of what it will have to say about when the strongest tree and its roots will not be taken…
Perfection
“They did for money now what they used to do out of passion. This was a fact. From this fact, they concluded that they had turned their passion into a job. This was a deduction.”-Vincenzo Latronico, PerfectionEverything you do nowadays might cost you something, maybe money or nothing.For example, when you travel to a different…
Calling for a Blanket Dance
”He enjoyed the genuine attempts and genuine failures.”-Oscar Hokeah, Calling for a Blanket DanceFailures are part of the journey or adventure that you seek to make.If failure is an option neither is success.The only thing that matters is keeping moving forward, because those kinds of things might be the actionable steps towards the goal you…
The Rest of Our Lives
”Is the idea of healing to get you back to the way you used to be or to turn you into something new?”-Benjamin Markovits, The Rest of Our LivesIf the comfort zone makes you feel safe, then fine, it’s because that’s what you may need right now.But it doesn’t mean that it always is in…
Giovanni’s Room
”Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.”-James Baldwin, Giovanni’s RoomHome is where you are, what you want to be.It’s a place where you can only act on what you want to act about because it’s your place.However, you may not always be in that place forever, as you may take time…
The 4-Hour Workweek
”For all of the most important things, the timing always sucks. Waiting for a good time to quit your job? The stars will never align and the traffic lights of life will never all be green at the same time. The universe doesn’t conspire against you, but it doesn’t go out of its way to…
Countries of Origin
”I grew up loving a country that didn’t love me back.”- Javier Fuentes, Countries of OriginI love my province more than I love myself.What I love about it is the scenery, the beauty of green nature, and the people who live by it.If you love something and then that place doesn’t love you back, you…
Day
”You’re beautiful in your own skin. You brought with you into the world some kind of human amazingness, and you can depend on it, always. Please try not to ever let anybody talk you out of that.” -Michael Cunningham, Day All human beings are beautiful in their own way. So don’t talk about what you…
By Nightfall
“Insomniacs know better than anyone how it would be to haunt a house.”-Michael Cunningham, By NightfallOr should I say in other words, “Nighthawks”One of the signs that it is now early or daylight comes is the sound of roosters, especially when you live in a rural area.At nightfall, everyone is asleep, but when you can’t…
Land’s End: A Walk in Provincetown
”Wherever you go, Provincetown will always take you back, at whatever age and in whatever condition. Because time moves somewhat differently there, it is possible to return after ten years or more and run into an acquaintance, on Commercial or at the A&P, who will ask mildly, as if he’d seen you the day before…
Cockfight: A Fable of Failure
“I could relate to Frank’s wilful solitude,” she writes in the introduction, “and his skepticism of any brand of companionship, the criticism he tolerates for being alone. And boy, could I ever relate to his devotion to the type of work that brands him a fool.”-Kier La Janisse, Cockfight: A Fable of FailureKeep calm when…
The World Goes On
. . . surely that is the main thing, tranquility, this is what this person seeks in the desired distance, some tranquility from the unspeakably oppressive, painful, insane disquiet that seizes him whenever he happens to think of his starting point, that infinitely foreign land where he is now, and from where he must leave,…
Challenger
”He was nobody’s fool; he knew he was going to die. But he never stopped trying to live.”-Adam Higginbotham, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of SpaceOne thing is for sure death is inevitable.But living a life is the most privileged thing that is given to us.We’re gonna suffer, of…
Cleanness
”That’s the worst thing about teaching, that our actions either have no force at all or have force beyond all intention, and not only our actions but our failures to act, gestures and words held back or unspoken, all we might have done and failed to do; and, more than this, that the consequences echo…
One Battle After Another
Sensei Sergio St. Carlos: You know what freedom is?Bob: What?Sensei Sergio St. Carlos: No fear. Just like Tom fucking Cruise.What is freedom for you?There are various aspects and considerations related to the concept of freedom.Freedom from the beginning is the foundation of any free country, and a system that works and maintains peace for a…
A Home at the End of the World
“I am beginning to understand the true difference between youth and age. Young people have time to make plans and think of new ideas. Older people need their whole energy to keep up with what’s already been set in motion.”-Michael Cunningham, A Home at the End of the WorldBeing young is what makes life begin,…
Midnight in Chernobyl
“If we survive until the morning, we’ll live forever.”-Adam Higginbotham, Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear DisasterSurviving is the point at which, because of struggles, pain, and different kinds of problems you face, it will be the foundation of what you might become.It builds your character to keep going.The character…
What We Can Know
“In love, we forgot that we, too, were things that could get broken or lost.” -Ian McEwan, What We Can Know Things change. People’s feelings change. Things go apart or break apart for different reasons. We always believe that everything happens for a reason. But what matters is right now. What are we gonna do…
Short Letter, Long Farewell
”It’s intolerable that when someone is born into the world, he can’t automatically come to consciousness.” -Peter Handke, Short Letter, Long Farewell Maturity is hard to achieve because it will not happen overnight. Adolescence is the time when someone may experience a lack of interpersonal skills. With the advent of technology, such as social media,…
Principles
”If you’re not failing, you’re not pushing your limits, and if you’re not pushing your limits, you’re not maximizing your potential.”-Ray Dalio, Principles: Life and WorkEach individual has a dream in their life.That dream is planted in the early days of their teenage years.That’s why our parents always say, ‘Before you become mature, what are…
A Guardian and a Thief
”He understood, from everything he had endured in his own life, that the worth of honesty, presented as noble before schoolchildren, was itself a lie. The honest souls who paused to deliberate on morals found, when they made their choice, that the treasure was gone. What was absolutely true and right, and what was absolutely…
Minor Detail
“Besides, sometimes it’s inevitable for the past to be forgotten, especially if the present is no less horrific.”-Adania Shibli, Minor DetailWe learn a great deal about the past, and if you don’t clearly comprehend it, then how can you navigate a better future without understanding the past?The present times are maybe what you need, but…
What Strange Paradise
”Today you are the only boy in the world and tomorrow it will be as though you never existed.” -Omar El Akkad, What Strange Paradise There are different kinds of meaning about this thing called “Paradise” Paradise might be a deception of the mind and heart. Paradise might be like a lot of opportunities to…
The Melancholy of Resistance
[…] for it was the approaching dawn that held him in its spell, that ‘promise kept each morning’ that the earth, along with the town and his own person, would emerge from beneath the shadow of the night, and that the delicate glimmer of dawn would yield to the bright light of day…-László Krasznahorkai, The…
Argo
LA Times Reporter: What does the title refer to?Lester Siegel: The Argo. You know, it’s the thing.LA Times Reporter: Like Jason and the Golden Fleece, or what?Lester Siegel: No, no. It’s the ship. It’s the spaceship. It goes everywhere. It goes all throughout space.LA Times Reporter: So, it’s Argonaut.Lester Siegel: No.LA Times Reporter: What does…
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
“To be accused of speaking too loudly about one injustice but not others by someone who doesn’t care about any of them is to be told, simply, to keep quiet.” -Omar El Akkad, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This To speak up and stand up about something is because there is a…
The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)
”If there was an oblivion Olympics, you’d win a gold medal in every category.”– Zalfa (I)We live in a world with numerous games.The game has different rules.Obeying the rules is essential so that the games are playable and fair.Unfortunately, when breaking the rules of the game, there are consequences (e.g. which include having a foul,…
We Are Green and Trembling
”I behold the trees and vines, the long and flexible roots of the air; they become a net, like the nets cast by fishermen, or no, like webs spun by spiders engrossed in their weaving, some above and some within the others, oh green and vast and aquiver, aquiver like all living things, my beloved,…
The Hotel New Hampshire
“Don’t you understand?” he would say, “You imagine the story better than I remember it.” -John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire Imagined stories are maybe the foundation of this world. From sacred texts to epic poems and literature. In my country, the Philippines, the foundation was laid when Jose Rizal stood for something, and he…
Pronto
”Plan something for forty-seven years and all of a sudden you’re out of time. Do it now, this minute, or maybe never get another chance.”-Elmore Leonard, Pronto (Raylan Givens, #1)It’s essential to have a plan, but what is more important is to make those plans a reality.If we struggle to make it happen it’s because…
4 3 2 1
“An unreal world was much bigger than a real world, and there was more than enough room in it to be yourself and not yourself at the same time.” -Paul Auster, 4 3 2 1 From my understanding of it, the unreal world may be the space, the universe, or the inside of this planet that may be…
The Mark and the Void
“It’s like when you find out your lover has been unfaithful: in one horrible instant everything she was to you, the whole beautiful enchantment, falls away, and you see her as she really is – mortal, machinating, tethered like everyone else to a little patch of space and time. And the worst of it is…
The South
”She has imagined this moment of return many times over the past decade, recreating every detail of the house as she approaches it.” -Tash Aw, The South You write a novel like you built a house. Writing is quiet and lonely work. Even students in schools in different kinds of Universities write a thesis or…
The Dark
”Cool, calm, and collected, the three seas of wisdom and success.”-John McGahern, The DarkPerhaps it’s boring, but when it comes to taking your goals, dreams, and life’s ambitions seriously, that’s what it is.Of course, we celebrate what needs to be celebrated about it, if anything.But at the end of the day, our lives consist not…
Onward
”In times of adversity and change, we really discover who we are and what we’re made of.” -Howard Schultz, Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul Those thing makes us who we are today. You are what you are because of different kinds of experiences that you gather in the course…
A Sorrow Beyond Dreams
”Horror is something perfectly natural: the mind’s emptiness. A thought is taking shape, then suddenly it notices that there is nothing more to think. Whereupon it crashes to the ground like a figure in a comic strip who suddenly realises that he has been walking on air.” -Peter Handke, A Sorrow Beyond Dreams If you…
Service
”Everything’s falling apart according to plan.” -John Tottenham If there is no plan, everything may go according to the weather simply pass by. That’s living. Being alive is such a precious gift that is maybe given to people not just by passing any other day. On the other hand, having a plan, a concrete plan,…
The Fishermen
”Hatred is a leech: The thing that sticks to a person’s skin; that feeds off them and drains the sap out of one’s spirit. It changes a person, and does not leave until it has sucked the last drop of peace from them.”-Chigozie Obioma, The FishermenIf you hate someone, be sure to know the person…
La Dolce Vita
Steiner: Don’t be like me. Salvation doesn’t lie within four walls. I’m too serious to be a dilettante and too much a dabbler to be a professional. Even the most miserable life is better than a sheltered existence in an organized society where everything is calculated and perfected.Challenges and trials happen whether we like it…
Underworld
”History was not a matter of missing minutes on the tape. I did not stand helpless before it. I hewed to the texture of collected knowledge, took faith from the solid and availing stuff of our experience. Even if we believe that history is a workwheel powered by human blood — read the speeches of…
The Afternoon of a Writer
”For today he required no more, no sight or conversation, and above all nothing new. Just to rest, to close his eyes and ears; just to inhale and exhale would be effort enough. He wished it was bedtime. Enough of being in the light and out of doors; he wanted to be in the dark,…
The Land in Winter
”Home, it turned out, had been the perfect preparation for not being at home.” -Andrew Miller, The Land in Winter There is a saying that… ”Home is where the heart is.” For me, I think home is also where the heartbreak is. It always depends on why the home is becoming a center of attention…
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
”Foreign films, Cliff thought, were more like novels. They didn’t care if you liked the main character or not. And Cliff found that intriguing.” -Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood That’s what the French New Wave does and the other Italian masterpiece films like 8 ½. In today’s standard most films or most…
The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion
a hymn then not to birds but to words which themselves feel like feather and wing and light, as if it were on the delicacy of such sweet syllables that flocks take flight. -Kei Miller, The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion Poetry like this is what we need just like a song…
Mark Tacastacas 
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